Before either of them arrived at the Etihad, Kalvin Phillips was asked to be Jack Grealish's messenger. "I get absolutely caned by Leeds fans 24/7," the then-Aston Villa playmaker told Phillips during Euro 2020, in a plea to get his England teammate to call off the dogs.
There was the simmering tension of a minor rivalry between Aston Villa and Leeds United at the time, dating back to a controversial Championship clash a couple of years previously and some shared history trying to escape the second tier, but it was enough for Grealish to have fallen into the crosshairs of the Elland Road regulars.
He was the darling of the English public at that time but a £100million move to the champions soon put an end to that status. Now, it wasn't only Leeds and the blue side of Birmingham where he was on the receiving end of the boo boys.
